Standard suturing instruments and techniques present significant risks to both patient and surgeon by way of possible glove perforation accidents in which a suture needle penetrates the surgeon's glove. Such perforation accidents may allow pathogenic organisms such as, but not limited to, the hepatitis virus B, the hepatitis virus C and the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to be transmitted from the patient to the practitioner.
Conversely, a perforation accident may cause a break in the sterile barrier between practitioner and patient, which increases the risk of the patient's wound becoming infected.
One approach to help avoid this problem involves the use of surgical forceps of the kind described in U.S. Patent Application US 2003/0045833 A1. The surgical forceps described in that application has near the distal end at the outside of an arm of the forceps a flexible material that can be used for manipulating a surgical needle during suturing in order to attempt to prevent needle perforation accidents.
Among the drawbacks of these and other surgical forceps is that when suturing using a surgical needle and a suture attached thereto, the tissue may sustain damage. This is a particular liability where delicate tissue is concerned through which it is difficult to pass the surgical needle without causing tissue damage. The point of the surgical needle initially pushes the tissue forward to subsequently lance it, which causes damage to the tissue. Moreover, in the surgical forceps described in the above application, the placement of the flexible material requires that the instrument be pushed further into the wound thereby increasing the likelihood of damaging the tissue and/or previously tied sutures.
Thus, there remains a need for suturing forceps, which minimize the risk of glove perforation accidents and tissue damage.